Shoppers flock to Kohl’s website on mobile

A newly launched mobile commerce site is helping drive more shoppers to Kohls.com.

Kohl’s Corp. CEO Kevin Mansell told analysts on the retail chain’s third quarter earnings call that traffic from mobile devices accounted for half of all site traffic in the third quarter. The company relaunched its mobile commerce site in September with an eye toward making it easier for on-the-go shoppers to buy online.

“[We] have seen a dramatic improvement in our conversion rate as people seem to find it a lot easier to navigate, and that will be important for the fourth quarter,” he said during a conference call with analysts, according to a transcript from Seeking Alpha. “The traffic is moving much, much more toward mobile.” Mansell declined to specify what the company’s mobile conversion rate was during the quarter or how much conversion improved.

Mansell said the company has seen a positive consumer response to its buy online, pickup in store initiative, which Kohl’s rolled out to its 1,166 locations nationwide during the second quarter. Chief financial officer Wesley McDonald said orders fulfilled via ship from store or the buy online, pickup in-store option accounted for about 3-4% of the company’s Q3 revenue, and he expects that share will grow during the fourth quarter to about 10% of online business.

“Lots of things [are] working in the right direction on online—still not as profitable as brick-and-mortar, but we're closing the gap,” he said.